Summary

• The KOTOR remake by Saber Interactive is still in development, despite prior reports of a troubled development process.
• Expectations are high for the remake as Bioware's 2003 original is held in such high acclaim.
• Embracer Group's sale of Saber Interactive for $500 million will not affect the development of the KOTOR remake, although a release date is still unknown.

The Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection - before Aspyr's parent company, Saber Interactive, took over development in 2022.

The original Star Wars: Knights of the OId Republic is heralded as one of the best Star Wars games of all time, telling a story set four thousand years before the era of the Galactic Empire. The game detailed the history of the ancient Republic and Jedi Order and their conflict with the Sith Empire, with players working to defeat Darth Malak and his Sith armada following the fall of hundreds of Jedi Knights.

Development On The KOTOR Remake Has Been Troubled

There Were Rumors The Project Had Been Canceled Completely

Despite Knights of the Old Republic fleshing out an era of Star Wars lore that's still extremely popular, much of this has since become non-canonical due to Disney's erasure of many Star Wars stories outside the movies to make way for its own, with these older titles being deemed part of the "Legends" continuity. Many were hopeful that the game receiving the remake treatment - rather than another port or remaster - could be a sign that Disney was willing to reincorporate the events of the Knights of the Old Republic game into its current continuity in some form, especially as other characters from the Legends continuity, such as Grand iral Thrawn, have been added to more recent Star Wars stories.

While the Knights of the Old Republic game is still non-canon, there have been several moments from this time period incorporated into recent Star Wars media. Most recently, Luke Skywalker explored the era of the Old Republic in Marvel's canonical Star Wars comics after attempting to heal a red kyber crystal led him to experience a "living" memory from this time.

Unfortunately, development on the Knights of the Old Republic remake has been extremely troubled, and after what seemed like an indefinite pause in development under Aspyr, after it fired the game's art director and design director in July 2022. According to Bloomberg, this decision followed the studio demoing a vertical slice to Lucasfilm and publisher Sony at the end of June 2022 following years of development.

The game was then ed up the chain to Aspyr's parent company, Saber Interactive to complete its development, as the company was already overseeing the reportedly massive production anyway, with Embracer Group confirming in a blog post that the change was made to “ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title”. Other than this news that the development was changing studios, there's been very little news surrounding the title since its announcement in 2021, and people grew concerned.

Many feared for the state of the Star Wars: Knights of the OId Republic remake when the reveal trailer was pulled from YouTube and social media last year. This led to speculation that the removal of the trailer was an indication that Embracer Group - who bought Saber Interactive for $525 million in 2020 - was canceling the game entirely. Fortunately, this was not the case, and a statement from the company confirmed that it was delisted from the PlayStation YouTube channel due to issues with a music license expiring, which is common practice. The Embracer Group later revealed a report for the 2022-2023 fiscal year which listed all games that were currently in active development at the time, and the Knight of the Old Republic remake was still included among them.

Embracer Group Is Selling Saber Interactive For $500 Million

But Saber Will Still Continue Developing KOTOR's Remake Following This Deal

As reported by Bloomberg, Embracer Group intends to sell Saber Interactive for $500 million to a group of private investors, which will be $25 million less than it purchased the company for almost four years ago. Following this sale, Saber will become a privately owned company with around 3,500 employees, and plans to continue developing its remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The $500 million figure includes an option for Saber Interactive to bring along multiple Embracer Group subsidiaries.

Saber Interactive was originally acquired by Embracer Group as part of a spending spree in which Chief Executive Officer Lars Wingefors acquired at least 27 companies. However, as an unannounced $2 billion partnership with a major gaming group fell through, interest rates increased over the past year, and its shares rapidly dropped by 40 percent, Embracer Group has begun rapidly cutting costs through mass lay-offs, closing several of its subsidiaries including Saints Row developer Volition, canceling projects such as a Deus Ex game, and looking to sell more studios such as Borderlands developer Gearbox Software (as reported by Kotaku) alongside Saber Interactive.

When Could The KOTOR Remake Be Released Now?

There's Been No Sign Of The Remake Since Its 2021 Reveal

The word that Saber Interactive will be continuing its development of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic following Embracer's deal is positive, considering how little news there's been surrounding the title since its September 2021 reveal. There's no word on when the game will be released, however. When it was being developed by Aspyr Media, the studio targeted a late 2022 launch for the Knights of the Old Republic remake, but according to reports surrounding the time of the transition to Saber Interactive, a "more realistic" target would have been 2025 due to the sheer scale of the production.

With no new footage shown, it's unclear whether Saber Interactive will have the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake ready for 2025, or what state the game is currently in. With confirmation that it will still be worked on following Saber's privatization, along with the popularity of the Star Wars IP, the private investors who have bought Saber Interactive will likely want to have some information to provide to consumers to maintain interest and justify their purchase, so hopefully there will be some news or footage from the title soon.

Sources: Embracer Group, Bloomberg (1, 2), Kotaku